MEETING OF SMALL MINDS

Esprit de clocher

Here's a handy French term that encompasses the notions of both small-mindedness and local patriotism and accounts for village rivalries, village quarrels, and chauvinism. Esprit de clocher is an old expression used to express the idea that one's world view doesn't go beyond one's own village. In short, parochialism.

Despite its meaning, we're using as illustration for this term a photo of an elegant bell tower which is an architectural curiosity for its locality.  The tower's lead-covered dome, dating to the late 16th century and entirely restored, is of Spanish style, atypical to its French Brittany department, the Côtes-d'Armor. In addition, elements of the façade of this neo-Gothic church, l'Église Notre-Dame et Saint Mathurin in the village Moncontour, are borrowed from the Italian Renaissance style.   Moncontour is classed as one of the most beautiful villages in France.

Vocabulary

un beffroi:  a belfry

un clocher:  a church tower, a bell tower, a steeple

une cloche:  a bell

©2017 P.B. Lecron

HEAD FIRST

La tête la première

Brueghelesque expressions are a presage of what visitors will see in the Jardins d'Étretât on the Normandy coast where a multitude of the resin heads are centerpieces in an incredible contemporary garden of topiary art. The heads are the work of Spanish artist Samuel Salcedo and are reminiscent of the carved stone faces that dot the terrain of another prominent suspended topiary garden, Les Jardins de Marqueyssac in the Dordogne. The Étretât garden is on the upper chalk cliff, la Falaise d'Amont, which affords a magnificent view of the opposite cliff and its the famous Aiguille, or needle structure. The above photograph was taken at the entrance of the garden.

Expression

Réfléchissons ensemble:  let's put our heads together

©2017 P.B. Lecron


An update...when immersion is easy
Think about it; reading children's books to learn a foreign language is a great way to jump-start the acquisition of a second language. If you're learning to speak French, or simply looking for a charming bedtime story as a gift for a child, then we recommend our own engaging and illustrated page-turner,
Le lapin et la lune, écrit par Marianne Lecron, illustré par P. B. Lecron. This, and an English version, The Rabbit and the Moon, are available on Amazon sites worldwide.

MONKEY BUSINESS

Another animal on the Mini-Carousel in Rouen serves today to illustrate a number of French terms used to translate "monkey business,"  which anglophones take to mean silly or dishonest behavior. Some of them are bêtises,  singeries,  manigances, and une affaire louche.

Vocabulary

un singe:  a monkey

une singerie:  a monkey house

les singeries:  monkeying about; antics

manigancer:  to plot

les manigances:  plotting, scheming, shenanigans

une affaire louche:  a shady deal, a shady business

©2017 P.B. Lecron

THIS LITTLE PIGGY

This little piggy went to the market on an old-style mini-carousel at the Place du Vieux Marché in Rouen.

Vocabulary
un porcinet:  a piggy, a piglet
un porcin:  a pig
un porc:  a pig, a swine (literally and figuratively)


©2017 P.B. Lecron

SCHOOL'S OUT

Fin des cours

To mark that today is the last day of classes for French school children we're posting a photo of one more example of the charming trompe l'oeil murals painted by students and professors of the École d'Art Mural de Versailles on utility boxes around Versailles. 

©2017 P.B. Lecron